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  • From: tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] What's better for the farm is better for the planet
  • Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2014 21:53:32 -0700


None of this is too far-fetched to consider in light of food production & freshwater resources. This piece pulls together some harsh numbers to put it all in context of our future:

Are We Falling Off the #Climate Precipice? http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/are_we_falling_off_the_climate_precipice_20131219#.UwlwWMckeoI.twitter


On 2/22/2014 9:39 PM, Dan Conine wrote:
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] What's better for the farm is better
for the planet
To:livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID:<5308E8F1.1030801@lobo.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed


True, unfortunately. Some of us still have hopes for something civilized
to survive the Industrial Revolution, to relearn small community self
reliance and resilience, esp in food. Trying to take part in that larger
purpose actually brings some peace of mind. It can take many forms, such
as preserving endangered seed diversity etc.
Thanks, Paul.
I tend to agree in heart with your reply, and I'm fond of what
Marcin Jakabowski is doing with the opensourcefarm.org idea of
establishing some minimum technology for a civilized society.
I am just getting too cynical, so I try to withhold my responses
most of the time, now.
Why? Because looking at the climate data, it is apparent that anything
above about 30 degrees latitude will be completely unstable for some
decades or centuries to come (probably until all of the ice melts), and
the areas of the tropics will be too hot for human habitation. By
"unstable", I mean too unpredictable for the commodity crops that are
feeding some 90% of the world's population.
That leaves some narrow bands where grasses will dominate and
nomadic humans MAY survive by following what's left of grazing animals.

But we try not to talk about that in polite company, right? Better
to just keep believing that some miracle will occur and the exponential
changes in the weather will suddenly level out at the state we are in
right now: maybe because everyone gets together and prays for it or
something.

Meanwhile, we live, we eat and we try to be better people than our
culture has tried to make us.

Good luck,

Dan C.
Belgium, WI

On 2/22/2014 11:44 AM, Dan Conine wrote:
From: tradingpost<tradingpost@lobo.net>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] What's better for the farm is better

Along with more farmers, we might add more income from farming, at least
minimum wage --
Ironically, it's the farm income that went away, causing farmers to go
away (expand or die). Americans in the early 20th century spent 1/4 to
1/2 of their income on food, plus did most of the preparation
themselves. Today, it's more like 1/10th of their income (on average)
and they don't put any labor into the preparation. That difference has
been "havested" by the food processing corporations, and the "surplus"
farm production is used to trade for the oil that enables the
button-pushing lifestyle.

People are voting billions of times every day for a shadow government
at the cash registers and gas pumps. What can we expect except growth
of that system until it consumes itself, as all empires do.

The "EXPAND OR DIE!!" philosophy never stops to contemplate that it is
also "Expand to the death."
..and as Jim Kunstler says, "Efficiency is the straightest road to Hell."

sigh,

Dan C.
Belgium, WI

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